Possible Watercooling!

[MercuryDoun]

on one of my first setups i ran a 120.1 stealth then switched over to a extreme with 1 ultra kaze fan pulling air through it and the extreme cooled a little better then the stealth, only by 3-4c better. they both do their job if you use the right fans for it. the stealth is nice if you run a push/pull just because the stack is so thin. right now with my push/pull setup on the 120.4 its just over 5" thick but with a stealth it would be almost an inch less. i bought the case i have now knowing that i was putting watercooling in it and with that knew i was getting as big of rads as i could.

 

Sooo... what your saying is the stealth is probably the better choice since i plan on running it push/pull with 4x http://www.newegg.co...5-158-_-Product. I was planning on running them on a fan controller or something to keep them quiet but wanted the ability to run at max for extreme overclocking sessions, lol.

 

 

Couldn't you orient it with the inlet/outlet at the bottom? Or is there not enough room for that either?

 

Worst case you could get some 140mm to 120mm adapters to mount it up top.

 

Its highly recommended against using the swiftech radiator in that way. It causes air to build up into the top of the radiator or something and ends up requiring like monthly maintenance then, or so i read atleast. Swiftech definitely says dont orient the Rad that way.

 

Is this the type of adapter your talking about? http://www.frozencpu...A140120-BK.html This might solve all my problems!

 

After I had it less than a week we took off the original tubing that came on it and added a reservoir bay. The stock pump is still plenty to run my loop -- adding a video card block would probably push it a little too much though. It works GREAT! My idle temps are usually around 20C and I only max up at 40ish running my cores maxed out. I'm very impressed considering with a good air cooler I was sitting around mid 30s at idle. I think there are some pictures up somewhere on the forum. I'll find em for you.

 

Edit: Heres a shot before I got my 4870x2 OOOOO!

 

Oooo nice, i guess the modded Eco is pretty nice then! What case is that you have? I really like the side window on it. It shows everything off nice and pretty.

 

Looking like orange UV tubing is harder to find that i thought. I did find some Swiftech Anti-fungal/anti-Algae additive stuff that swiftech highly recommends for use with their products and turns out its uv reactive and super bright green hehe. I think the neon green tubes would look pretty awesome in my well lit red case.

[BluePanda]

Oooo nice, i guess the modded Eco is pretty nice then! What case is that you have? I really like the side window on it. It shows everything off nice and pretty.

 

Looking like orange UV tubing is harder to find that i thought. I did find some Swiftech Anti-fungal/anti-Algae additive stuff that swiftech highly recommends for use with their products and turns out its uv reactive and super bright green hehe. I think the neon green tubes would look pretty awesome in my well lit red case.

 

I have the HAF 932 Black Edition -- with all the blue fans (CM mess up long story).

 

Yea that UV orange was difficult to find. I do recommend using a coil or chunk of silver (you can also buy this at FrozenCPU) instead of some water additive. That way you don't have to keep a separate jug of your "special" water away from everyone (especially pets) -- you don't want to make anyone sick! It also keeps you from having color in your tubes so you don't end up with green carpet when things don't work out the way you intended.

 

There are a lot of tubes indeed that are colored and have UV. If you have a red case why not go with the Red tubing? Thats super easy to find.

[Speedway]

I did find some Swiftech Anti-fungal/anti-Algae additive stuff that swiftech highly recommends for use with their products and turns out its uv reactive and super bright green hehe. I think the neon green tubes would look pretty awesome in my well lit red case.

 

Merc, I'm sure you have seen me write this before, but go with a silver coil for the fungal/algea blocker. You only have to buy 1, and it will last forever! So everytime you flush your loop, you don't have to worry about any additives lining your WC components, and all you have to do is add $0.99 distilled water back into the loop

[MercuryDoun]

I have the HAF 932 Black Edition -- with all the blue fans (CM mess up long story).

 

Yea that UV orange was difficult to find. I do recommend using a coil or chunk of silver (you can also buy this at FrozenCPU) instead of some water additive. That way you don't have to keep a separate jug of your "special" water away from everyone (especially pets) -- you don't want to make anyone sick! It also keeps you from having color in your tubes so you don't end up with green carpet when things don't work out the way you intended.

 

There are a lot of tubes indeed that are colored and have UV. If you have a red case why not go with the Red tubing? Thats super easy to find.

 

I dunno why i dont go with red. Seems like that is boring. Red is nice, but i think it would be cooler to have another cooler that really stands out from the red. Im probably far more likely to just use some clear tube with nothing fancy, the red light from the case ought to color the water red either way. But bright green does sound pretty awesome lol.

 

I just looked up the anti-kink coil. That does seem like a really good option. Not quiet as nice as full color tube. But it ought to get the job done hah.

 

 

 

 

What exactly do compression fightings do? Should i use them? Are are the barbs with clamps good enough? Also im alittle confused about these o-rings. Do i need to buy them seperately?

[MercuryDoun]

Merc, I'm sure you have seen me write this before, but go with a silver coil for the fungal/algea blocker. You only have to buy 1, and it will last forever! So everytime you flush your loop, you don't have to worry about any additives lining your WC components, and all you have to do is add $0.99 distilled water back into the loop

 

A piece of silver in the res is all it takes to kill off algae? Thats awesome! Lol.

 

Do to Additives really cause that big of an issue? Is truly bad for the components? Or is it more of an annoyance as it can leave a residue/stain on all your parts/tubes?

[Speedway]

A piece of silver in the res is all it takes to kill off algae? Thats awesome! Lol.

 

Do to Additives really cause that big of an issue? Is truly bad for the components? Or is it more of an annoyance as it can leave a residue/stain on all your parts/tubes?

 

Yes, the silver is all you need

 

Although I fell like the components are prob better off w/o any addititves, they prob are not terribly bad for them either. It really is just more of an annoyance thing IMO. I used colored coolant on my very 1st loop, and when I went to redo the loop, it was a PITA to flush that crap out of the rad. Which is why I have never added anything like that in my loops since. Capi talks about a coolant that he uses, and not having any probs like that. Maybe they have improved the liquids. But, IMO, my WC loop really appreciates not having anything but a silver coil and plain ol' cheap distilled H20

 

Without anything added to your loop, its is:

A. cheaper and

B. so much easier to flush!

[Waco]

What exactly do compression fightings do? Should i use them? Are are the barbs with clamps good enough? Also im alittle confused about these o-rings. Do i need to buy them seperately?

Personally I don't like compression fittings. They cost more and are limited to a single size (inside diameter and outside diameter) of tubing. Some people swear by them but in reality barbs + clamps are more secure (they aren't prone to leaking when torqued around their primary axis) and cost a lot less money. If you're set on them they aren't a bad choice by any means but I don't see the point in spending money on them.

 

As for o-rings - I've never seen barbs that came without them. They are usually integrated into the base of the barbs / compression fittings and don't need to be replaced unless you tear down your loop constantly or they are very old.

 

I definitely second (third?) the notion of pure distilled with a silver kill coil. I've messed with colored coolants, additives, etc in the past and they have always been more hassle (and more money!) than they are worth.

Edited April 14, 2011 by Waco

[rocketeer55]

Sooo... what your saying is the stealth is probably the better choice since i plan on running it push/pull with 4x http://www.newegg.co...5-158-_-Product. I was planning on running them on a fan controller or something to keep them quiet but wanted the ability to run at max for extreme overclocking sessions, lol

Just so you know those fans won't work with a 140mm rad, cause they use 120mm mounting holes.

[MercuryDoun]

Yes, the silver is all you need

 

Although I fell like the components are prob better off w/o any addititves, they prob are not terribly bad for them either. It really is just more of an annoyance thing IMO. I used colored coolant on my very 1st loop, and when I went to redo the loop, it was a PITA to flush that crap out of the rad. Which is why I have never added anything like that in my loops since. Capi talks about a coolant that he uses, and not having any probs like that. Maybe they have improved the liquids. But, IMO, my WC loop really appreciates not having anything but a silver coil and plain ol' cheap distilled H20

 

Without anything added to your loop, its is:

A. cheaper and

B. so much easier to flush!

 

Ok maybe ill shoot Capi a PM to see what he has to say, but otherwise im thinking distilled water and a kill coil is the way to go. Fancy/Pretty is nice, but easier is the lazy way i prefer.

 

 

Personally I don't like compression fittings. They cost more and are limited to a single size (inside diameter and outside diameter) of tubing. Some people swear by them but in reality barbs + clamps are more secure (they aren't prone to leaking when torqued around their primary axis) and cost a lot less money. If you're set on them they aren't a bad choice by any means but I don't see the point in spending money on them.

 

As for o-rings - I've never seen barbs that came without them. They are usually integrated into the base of the barbs / compression fittings and don't need to be replaced unless you tear down your loop constantly or they are very old.

 

I definitely second (third?) the notion of pure distilled with a silver kill coil. I've messed with colored coolants, additives, etc in the past and they have always been more hassle (and more money!) than they are worth.

 

Thanks Waco! You've been SUUUPER helpful in all this, i was planning on using the barbs and clamps, but just wanted to make sure i shouldnt be using the compression fittings.

 

Just so you know those fans won't work with a 140mm rad, cause they use 120mm mounting holes.

 

Thanks for pointing this out rocket! I didnt notice they had 120mm mount holes, but your right!

 

 

 

I think i know everything i need to know now about getting this started! All i need to do is get the money for it! Im also not 100% certain im ready for the water cooling, I may have a need for a secondary system so i may have to use my "Spare" money on that instead of all these fancy water cooling components.

 

Thanks again for all the help guys! That 140mm to 120mm adapter was pretty much the best find ever, I didnt even think to consider if those were even made. $45 rad over $118 FTW!

[Waco]

Just remember this is an addictive habit. Mine started when airman sold me his D5, D-Tek Fuzion, and a Black Ice Pro II 120.2 radiator.

 

Quickly that turned into buying a reservoir, then a bigger radiator, then better fans, then a block for my GPU, then a new pump housing / reservoir combo, etc. It adds up quickly.

 

 

The biggest thing you need to do is BE CAREFUL and pay attention. Properly leak test everything before powering up your whole machine - leaks aren't fun.

 

 

As for the radiator orientation - it's a pain to mount them certain ways but as long as you bleed the loop properly it ends up being not much of a problem. My loop is a pain in the arse to bleed because the radiator is on top but once it's bled I don't have to mess with it.

[MercuryDoun]

Just remember this is an addictive habit. Mine started when airman sold me his D5, D-Tek Fuzion, and a Black Ice Pro II 120.2 radiator.

 

Quickly that turned into buying a reservoir, then a bigger radiator, then better fans, then a block for my GPU, then a new pump housing / reservoir combo, etc. It adds up quickly.

 

 

The biggest thing you need to do is BE CAREFUL and pay attention. Properly leak test everything before powering up your whole machine - leaks aren't fun.

 

 

As for the radiator orientation - it's a pain to mount them certain ways but as long as you bleed the loop properly it ends up being not much of a problem. My loop is a pain in the arse to bleed because the radiator is on top but once it's bled I don't have to mess with it.

 

Yeah im pretty much assumed this would be a bad habit to start, but it just sounds like so much fun!! Lol

 

Thanks again for all your help Waco and Panda!

[jjjrmy]

I wanna WC so bad!